Detailed design of the new 29-bed ward at the Queensland Children's Hospital is complete, paving the way for construction to begin early next year.
Minister for Health Steven Miles, joined patients, families and staff today in taking a virtual walk through the future neurosurgical and orthopaedic ward with the help of some immersive virtual reality technology.
Completion of the detailed design, which includes room layouts, colour schemes, floor coverings and location of clinical services, represented an important milestone for the $20 million project announced by the Palaszczuk Government this year.
"This brand-new ward was designed in close consultation with patients, families and staff whose input and ideas of what makes a hospital welcoming and functional have been invaluable," Mr Miles said.
"From the initial design concept phase to the completion of finer details, more than 100 meetings and workshops have been held with hospital staff and consumers to ensure the space is both fit for purpose clinically and child and family-friendly.
"As a result of this collaboration, we have landed on a ward design and configuration that will provide up to 29 beds for a mix of surgical patients.
"The completion of the ward's design marks a significant milestone in its delivery. From here we can go to tender with construction to commence in early 2020.
"The Queensland Children's Hospital has been so successful in providing specialty paediatric care that it needed to be expanded, and there is no one better to involve in the planning process than those who will work here and those who will be treated here.
"By expanding the Queensland Children's Hospital, we will continue to meet the healthcare needs of our state's children and their families now and well into the future," Mr Miles said.
In addition to the new ward, the Queensland Children's Hospital will gain another six oncology beds that will increase its specialist oncology capacity by 25 per cent.
Both the additional oncology beds and new ward on Level 12 of the hospital are expected to be available from late-2020.
A fly-through video of the ward can also be viewed online at: https://www.childrens.health.qld.gov.au/qch/about-us/level-12-expansion/
Available for download at:https://www.dropbox.com/s/qk4gxjcuczhut5i/QCH%20L12%20flythrough.mp4?dl=0
